Kusadasi Turkey and the Ancient City of Ephesus

We pulled into the port city of Kusadasi Turkey this morning. Here’s a picture before sunrise.

Port city of Kusadasi Turkey

We then took a bus to the ancient city of Ephesus. Here is the Wikipedia description of the city.

Ephesus (/ˈɛfəsəs/;[1] Greek: Ἔφεσος Ephesos; Turkish: Efes; ultimately from Hittite Apasa) was an ancient Greekcity[2][3] on the coast of Ionia, three kilometres southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital[4][5] by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists. During theClassical Greek era it was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC. According to estimates, Ephesus had a population of 33,600 to 56,000 people in the Roman period, making it the third largest city of Roman Asia Minor after Sardis and Alexandria Troas.[6]

The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In 268 AD, the Temple was destroyed or damaged in a raid by the Goths.[7] It may have been rebuilt or repaired but this is uncertain, as its later history is not clear.[8] Emperor Constantine the Great rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths. Following the Edict of Thessalonica from Emperor Theodosius I, what remained of the temple was destroyed in 401 AD by a mob led by St. John Chrysostom.[9] The town was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD. The city’s importance as a commercial center declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the Küçükmenderes River.

Entrance to Ephesus

More pictures of the ruins which are currently being excavated.

Ruins of Ephesus

There were old stores and ancient Roman baths that are partially restored.

Here is an advertisement for the grocery store with the bananas –

Grocery Store Sign

There is a huge old library building that is partially restored that we could walk through –

Library in Ephesus

Here is the Roman public toilets – kind of a tight fit

Roman public toilets

There was a sign showing the sailors the way to the brothel – it has a foot, a woman, and a picture of coins – meaning put your foot in this direction to get to the ladies, and bring your money.

Brothel sign in Ephesus

Lots of restored or partially restored columns and statues –

A backgammon game carved into the marble

An ancient mosaic

Finally we came to a large theater which is also partially restored. They have live concerts here but have stopped having rock concerts because the vibrations damage the site.

Theater

We went to a commercial area called the Ephesus park, which was really just a bunch of stores with a cheesy display of gladiators etc…

Ephesus Park

We then went back towards town and took a few pictures on the way down into the city of Kusadasi. We also saw storks on the St John’s Basilica

Stork at St John’s Basilica

Port of Kusadasi

Our cruise ship in port

A statue in the port

When we got back to town they took is to a rug demonstration which was just a place where they tried to sell you rugs and jewelry and leather. Then on the way back into the ship we had to pass through customs which then pushed you through a large area of additional stores where they were aggressively trying to sell you things. It was an interesting day but not really a city that we would return to again.

Here are some views from the ship.

An island visible from the ship

Ataturk statue above the harbor – first leader of the Republic of Turkey

island visible from the ship